Goodbye PEI

Tomorrow we leave Prince Edward Island for Nova Scotia and we are sad about it. Our trip here has had magical qualities that only an island can provide.

PEI is defined by the wind, the sea, the land and the people. The wind blows sometimes harshly and sometimes delicately. It carries the sea on its breath. The land of red earth drew the French, the Irish and the English. They farm, they fish and they live close to the land and the water.

Many of our nights here we have spent in provincial or national parks right on the water. Nova Scotia is dimly on the horizon as I write. I have felt part of all of PEI while here. I have been out in the wind, in the ocean, in the red sand. I have driven through the cultivated fields, alongside the gathering of Irish moss and through the fishing villages. I have eaten the produce and spoken to some of the friendly folk. I have listened to their maritime music formed by their ethnic heritage. I purchased from its artisans.

The island is mostly open spaces. It is basically flat and the sea is never too far away. I am carrying away certain images:

Small, tidy homes with large front yards filled with flower gardens,

Music with fiddle, guitar, mouth harp, accordion and foot stomping,

Fields of potatoes with small white blossoms now in bloom,

The striking yellow of acres of canola,

The green of the hay fields rolling to the sea,

The blue, gray, brown, red and green of the water in different weather,

Lobster pots piled high in side yards,

The red sand of the beaches and cliffs,

The green of Anne of Green Gables which is celebrated throughout the island, and

The gulp of salt water taste of my first ever oyster.

They call PEI “the gentle island.” I have been “gentled” and I am thankful for it.

Mist and Found

Last week we were fogged in at St. Martins, New Brunswick. We planned to drive/hike/walk the 10 km Fundy Trail which runs right along the Bay of Fundy. It is supposed to be spectacular visit and I was disappointed that we had to skip it. Who knows if we will ever be back that way.

I thought at the time that maybe something else would show up because of the loss. This morning on the beach in Prince Edward Island National Park I was greeted by this sentinel staring out to see. I was on the beach yesterday afternoon and it was not there. Overnight someone created the tableau with a two foot rock and a few shells. It appears lonely and waiting for someone. Who knows who.

A message was also left in the sand:

Who knows for whom it was left. I choose to believe it was me.

Had I travelled the Fundy Trail last week, I would not have been on this beach at this moment on this day - mist and found.

Spuds, Bottles and Wind

Prince Edward Island has been our home for the last few days. We have been travelling the west side along the North Cape Coastal Route. The ride has been exciting along dramatic coasts, through small French villages and through potato fields. Spuds are a really big deal here since they are one of the major potato production areas of the world. The combination of potatoes and forest has caused the locals to look like The Logger Mr. Potato Head, as you can see from the picture.





The Island evens boasts of a potato museum, kind of a mish mash of things. Outside sits the biggest spud you have ever seen!

The inside has a Potato Hall of Fame. I think of it more as a French Frying Legion. And there is a whole room dedicated to the "enemies" of the potato - like blight and microorganisms (they may be the same thing, I don't know.) They placed their enemies inside little caskets! How charming.

You may be wondering where these islanders live. How about in houses made from bottles?

A retired guy had so much time on his hand that he built three houses out of concrete and glass bottles, some 22,000 in all. Unfortunately he didn't think of putting them on foundations so they all had to be rebuilt after he died. Today the houses are amidst terrific gardens. I can tell you from first hand experience that mosquitoes love the bottle houses.

Our final stop yesterday was the North Cape Wind Test Site where the Canadian government is doing research about harnessing the wind. It is all very technical, but bear with me. Here is the technical part that I learned: The wind blows and turns the big arm things which in turn (and turning) do some magic stuff to produce electricity. I know. That's a lot to remember. But I brought home a reminder. I was so impressed that I had them retrofit my motorhome so that it now runs on wind power rather than gas. It's a little front heavy but it does great in the wind.

Prince Edward Island has been a joy. It is an island of simplicity with tidy small homes and much open space. I remember most the air and the sea. The two mesh and are always present. The campgrounds are mostly located at the water's edge. Beautiful sunsets adorn each evening.

We are off to more adventures!

Focus On My Buns

When we entered the province of New Brunswick and stopped at the information center, the gentleman, Wayne, was very helpful. He told us about all the highlights that would be on our route on the way to Prince Edward Island. And then he mentioned, “And Alma is the home of the sticky bun.” I thought that I heard him wrong and said, “What?” He repeated, “Alma is the home of the sticky bun.” Right then I knew that it might be the most important stop on our trip.

To get to Alma you have to drive through Fundy National Park. No need to stop. I’ve been to national parks before. And anyway, I had sticky buns on my mind.

Alma is pretty small but it had an information center. Every town has one. It appears to be the principal form of employment in this maritime province. And the young man (everyone seems young these days) knew the answer to my inquiry. “It’s right across the street.” I was so close to heaven without even knowing it: Kelly’s Bake Shop.

You have to understand that I have a love affair with all things that combine sugar and white flour. Bakery items were the survival tools of my childhood. And Kelly’s had it all: the sticky buns, muffins, cookies, jelly rolls (groan with pleasure,) yeast rolls (ohmygod,) pies, brown bread with raisins (pant, pant, pant) and more! I did not buy them all, but I got off to a pretty good start.

At the end I asked the cashier, “Why is it called the home of the sticky bun?” A sullen teen, she sort of looked at me and said, “I don’t know. I haven’t worked here long enough.” How long do you have to work there before such vital information is imparted!

I didn’t let this get me down. The sticky bun was perfect. “Get your hands off my sticky buns!” I have been waiting a long time to say that. And the yeast roll was great with the raspberry jam from a roadside stand.

What possibly could have been so great in the national park? There are 42 other ones in Canada so I will try to catch the next one, if a bakery doesn’t get in my way.

Fire and the Beyond

It has been a day of the elements here on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick – fog, wind, water and now fire. I am in a campground in St. Martins where we visited caves bored by tidal waters. This area has huge tides. We walked in the caves at low tide and at high tide they are filled with water. It’s nature messing around with us.

The day was ruled by fog, an evocative element if there ever was one. I recalled days of my youth that I cannot even remember. The dim view and the cool mist took me back to places that are filled only with dim, diffuse light. But they were places of peace and rest. Fog is good.

I have built a fire at my campsite about 50 yards from the Bay of Fundy. I should give you the measurements in meters and in French but I know neither. All I can give you is the feeling.

The fog has drifted away at the end of the day revealing coastal views. I built the fire in daylight since it does not get dark here until after ten o’clock. It provides me warmth against the stiff breeze of the cool coast air.

I am always drawn to a campfire and I am not sure why. Something primal lives in there. I did not sit around campfires as a child, but perhaps my ancestors did. I sit alone for the moment and yet I recall the people who have joined me in the past: my wife at many campsites, my son in the White Mountains, my father who loved to burn anything and everything, my friend John on the coast of Maine, the men of Shalom Seacoast and all the people who have stopped by in the past to say hello, many never to be seen again. A campfire is never lonely.

The wind is carrying my breath to feed the flames and bellowing the flames and smoke out to the waves of the bay. The waves are carrying my breath beyond.

Beyond. Maybe fire is about “beyond.” Beyond me, beyond you, providing warmth and protection, destroying and transforming. It picks me up and carries me away to the Beyond.

Fine Dining

Today was spent visiting St. Andrews, New Brunswick, a lovely seaside town. One of the highlights is Kingsbrae, 27 acres of outstanding gardens. My eye is always drawn to the sculptures in gardens and here they were particularly whimsical.

I was not my usual antisocial self and I met at least half of the town while strolling down the main street of town. It helped to have my dog, Zoe, with me. Everyone stops to talk to Zoe and I am her official interpreter. In return for a few moments with Zoe I expect local info. I quizzed folks about where I could find a great restaurant in town. I received a strong recommendation for the Rossmount Inn.

I recently have become interested in fine dining. I define “fine dining” as dining that is not cheap (and I am) and has menu items that I do not recognize. This is another part of the new me. I tend to go to the same restaurants and order the same items. I certainly have never been fond of ordering things that are not part of the normal lexicon.

Here is one of the appetizers: “warm miso gratin beausoleil oyster, apple-versus mignonette.” I recognize “warm” and “oyster.” I definitely do not do oysters so I did not have to learn what the other stuff is.

Here’s what I ordered for an appetizer (which is a new thing for me because I never used to order appetizers): “candied baby beets + shaved fennel, figs, toasted pecans, warm chevre fritter, balsamic-vanilla reduction, bergamot essence.” I love beets from a can and I love candy. I could not resist this item. I am not sure what fennel is but I am glad that it is not hairy. I like apple fritters so how different could a chevre fritter be? A reduction must mean not much food. That’s okay. It’s only an appetizer. I still have no idea with a bergamot is and essence sounds like a shampoo.

Here are some of the other appetizers that I skipped: mousseline, homemade charcuterie, foie gras terrine + wild boar cretons (wouldn’t cretons by definition be boring) and pickled milkweed pods. I would probably still be picking those things out of my teeth.

For dinner I had the scallops. Of course that was not the entire description but I will spare you all the details. They are only for us “foodies” to know.

The dinner was fabulous. But tomorrow night we will be eating hamburgers back in the motorhome. I’ll ask my wife if she can whip up some citrus-brandy emulsion for the burgers. Or we can always substitute ketchup. That still is more my style.

Rules Not To Live By

I am with my wife on the first day of a three week motorhome trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. It started out as it usually does - with a dead battery. But I had my handy dandy portable generator and I was able to jump start it. Motorhomes and dead batteries go hand in hand, so I was prepared. In the past this could easily have destroyed my day, but this time the self flagellation lasted only fifteen minutes.



The goal today was to cross the border at Calais, Maine, and spend the night in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. We didn’t make it. I pooped out early and we fell about 60 miles short. We landed at a campground on Pleasant Lake in Alexaner, Maine.



It was a hot day so the lake was a bonus. I am always a bit skeptical about the water temperature in a New England lake. I asked the lady in the office if the water was warm. She said, “It’s so,so – refreshing.” That always means freezing.



I have not been in cold water for quite some time. The ocean is ridiculous and off limits to me. Sometimes I turn down my hot tub to 98 degrees and that feels pretty cool. Here’s the problem with cold water: it hurts. I hate to be cold. I work very hard to control my body temperature. I was the first one with the layered look. I learned early that I could use the layers to always be at the optimum temperature. Swimming in cold water is against my rules.



Today I broke my rule and went swimming in cold water. It hurt for awhile. I survived. In fact I felt “refreshed.” Who would have guessed?



I dove into the lake because I am a new guy. Just why and how I am new is a story for another day.



Today felt like a good day to start breaking my rules. I have a lot of them. They all involve control. I like to control everything and everyone around me. It makes me feel safe. I am no longer willing to pay the price of safety.



I was so excited about breaking a rule that I went and broke another one. After swimming I sat on the ground on my towel. I never sit on the ground. It hurts. I like chairs. But today I sat on the ground, watched my wife swim and enjoyed the breeze.



So today I broke two of my Rules to Live By. Two down and 8,464 to go. However, I have the feeling that if I dive a little deeper I may find a few more. It should be fun, but perhaps cold. Today cold is okay. I'll see what tomorrow brings.